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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · wound · rash · present · capital · date · firm · band

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. firm — steady
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — a city
  6. date — the fruit
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rash — hasty
  10. wind — moving air
  11. present — there
  12. band — a ring
  13. present — the time now
  14. firm — decided
  15. capital — money
  16. present — a gift
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. rash — a series
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. band — a music group
  24. firm — a company

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com